Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Beautiful Wolf? (56 Pics)

Wolves have long been feared, made infamous by the Brothers Grimm in fairy tales, Aesop’s Fables, and legends aplenty from ancient times. But for all their spine-tingling howls, wolves almost never attack humans. Photo #1 by Tambako the Jaguar

Wolf hunting in snowy Netherlands. The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the most common type of wolf and the largest member of the wild “dog” family. Photo #2 by Chris Muiden

This leaping wolf looks like a playful dog, but like dogs, wolves are very social animals; they are affectionate, loyal and very intelligent. Photo #3 by Valerie

While this wolf is alert but resting, wolves can run at speeds of 35 – 40 mph. Average trotting speed is 7 – 9 mph which they can keep up for hours, sometimes covering 55 miles in one night. In packs, wolves hunt in territories of up to 600 square miles. Photo #5 by Gary Kramer / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The photographer called this “Waiting for Little Red Riding Hood!” Wolves live in packs. The smartest and strongest male of the pack is the “alpha,” the leader. There is also female “alpha” in a pack. A wolf’s nose is so sensitive that it can smell its prey from more than a mile away. Photo #7 by Valerie

Wolves howl “to assemble the pack (usually before and after hunts), to pass on an alarm (particularly at a den site), to locate each other during a storm or unfamiliar territory and to communicate across great distances. Howling consists of a fundamental frequency which may lie between 150 and 780 Hz, and consists of up to 12 harmonically related overtones. The pitch usually remains constant or varies smoothly, and may change direction as many as four or five times.” Photo #8 by Tambako the Jaguar

Wolf howling on glacial erratic at Little America Flats. If you’d like, you can go hear examples of a wolf’s lonesome howl, a pup’s howl, a confrontational howl, or a chorus of wolves in a spine-tingling howl. In addition to howling, wolves also bark, yap, whine, and growl. On a calm night, a wolf can be heard howling from as far as 120 miles away. While wolves may howl more during the moonlight, they do not howl at the moon. Photo #9 by Jim Peaco

Red wolf up close and personal. Some scientists consider the red wolf to be a wolf/coyote hybrid rather than a unique species. Photo #11 by Valerie

Pile o’wolves, three arctic wolf pups. The average litter size is 4 – 6 pups which are normally born from April through June. The entire wolf pack takes part in caring for the young. If the mother goes hunting, then another pack member “baby-sits” the wolf pups. Photo #12 by Tambako the Jaguar

It would suck to live in a zoo with no privacy, huh? Mated pairs usually stay together for life, but if one of the wolves dies, instead of howling at the moon, a wolf will quickly find a new mate. Photo #14 by

This shot was captured in the Lower Post Indian Reserve, British Columbia, CA. The photographer wrote, “Wolf who is making Lower Post part of his territory. It wasn’t shy at all and studied me as I was standing about 3 meters away.” Photo #15 by Bruce McKay

Wolf trailing a beer at Yellowstone. NPS says of the wolves of Yellowstone, “At the end of 2011, at least 98 wolves in 10 packs (8 breeding pairs), with 2 loners occupied Yellowstone National Park (YNP).” Photo #17 by Doug Smith / NPS

Northern Rocky Mountains wolf (gray wolf) in the snow. According to Wikipedia, “This subspecies generally weighs 70–135 pounds (32–61 kg), making it one of the largest subspecies of the gray wolf in existence. It is a lighter colored animal than its southern brethren, the Southern Rocky Mountains Wolf, with a coat that includes far more white and less black. In general, the subspecies favors lighter colors, with black mixing in among them.” Photo #18 by Tracy Brooks / USFWS

At about 4 weeks old, a wolf pup will leave the den &#8212 yet still sticks close by in case of danger. At around 7 – 8 months old, a pup will start running and traveling with the pack, as it learns how to hunt. Photo #19 by Tambako the Jaguar

The predator — Wolf eyes. Although wolves rarely attack humans, people have long feared the wolf. That fear is woven into folklore, fairy tales, mythology and art which depict wolves as villains. Untold scores of wolves have been ruthlessly hunted, shot, poisoned or trapped because of it. Photo #21 by Scott Flaherty

An Eurasian (gray) wolf is a large-sized, large-brained carnivore. This is “an example of the ‘northern’ wolf clade” which inhabits North America, Europe and northern Asia. Photo #27 by Gunnar Ries Amphibol

Dakota, a grey wolf at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust, howling on top of a snowy hill. Photo #28 by Retron

Iberian Wolves. The photographer explained, “In the image we can clearly see the white stripes in the snouts and the black marks in the front legs, two of the characteristics of the sub” species of Canis lupus. Photo #29 by Juan José González Vega

“The better to eat you with, my dear,” said grandmother wolf. Eurasian wolf at Kolmården, Sweden. It is thought that European Wolves evolved around 150,000 years ago, which is about the same time as wolves in North American. A gray wolf usually weighs between 60 and 135 pounds (27 and 60 kilograms). Photo #35 by Daniel Mott

Arctic Wolf at Lakota Wolf Preserve, Columbia , NJ, USA. The arctic wolf is considered to be a medium-sized wolf. Photo #36 by RickyNJ

This small “desert adapted” Arabian wolf is in a defensive posture. Aggressive or self-assertive wolves are characterised by slow, deliberate movements as well as high body posture and raised hackles. Photo #38 by עמוס חכמון

Face to Face — Lycans about to fight? Since ancient Greek mythology, humans have feared werewolves, Lycans. It has been suggested that werewolves were used to explain serial killings. Photo #39 by Valerie (ucumari)

Top left: From Norse mythology, Tyr and Fenrir illustrated in 1911 for Our Fathers’ Godsaga. Top right: Scary Raven at the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. The photographer wrote, “Remember, this is the same animal who goes out into the public to meet children. Raven is wonderful with the public, but with the other animals at the sanctuary, he is still a wolf.” Bottom left: Brussels statue of She-wolf feeding Romulus and Remus from mythology.1911 Illustration #52 by John Bauer / Viktor Rydberg, Photo #53 by Allison Bailey, #54 by Missvain

Long live the big, bad, beautiful, snarling wolf. The Defenders of Wildlife state, “There are an estimated 7,000 to 11,200 gray wolves in Alaska and more than 5,000 in the lower 48 states. Around the world there are an estimated 200,000 in 57 countries, compared to up to 2 million in earlier times.” Photo #56 by Mind Virus via reddit

The world needs wolves. Master hunters, conservative killers who cull the weak, old and infirm from herds, and so very SMART! Throughout history, we’ve done them every disservice we could imagine, yet still they persist, albeit with our newly enlightened attitude that they’re a necessary part of the environments they roam.

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